Speaker
Description
In recent years, lattice QCD calculations have significantly advanced our understanding of the QCD phase diagram at finite temperature and baryon density. In this talk, I will discuss the QCD equation of state at finite baryon chemical potential, with particular emphasis on the Taylor expansion method used to extend lattice results to nonzero chemical potentials. I will highlight the role of cumulants of conserved charge fluctuations as essential probes of the properties of hot and dense QCD matter.
Additionally, I will review the current understanding of the curvature of the chiral phase transition lines as functions of the baryon chemical potential, both for physical light and strange quark masses and in the (2+1)-flavor chiral limit. Throughout the talk, I will continuously draw connections between these lattice results and the experimental efforts to locate the QCD critical point.
